Over the weekend, I spent a lot of time scrutinizing our 2019 finances. While we did well paying off our debt, I know there were areas where I was sloppy and could should have done better. I think I became so overly focused on the debt that I lost track of the day-to-day stuff. No doubt, not paying closer attention ended up costing us more over the course of the year.
Our electric usage was one culprit. From 2016 – 2017, we saw an increase of 5.07%. 2017 – 2018, was slightly better, with only a 1.69% increase. 2018 – 1019 is where things went south. How on earth did we spend 24.67% more than the previous year? Some of it can be explained by our sump pump, which seemed to run 24/7 during the heavy spring thaw. Some of it can be explained by leaving extra lights on for our (nearly) blind dog, but as for the rest? I know I need to do better about unplugging things (I tend to leave my phone plugged in long after it is fully charged) and watching that lights are turned off when not in use. I am going to challenge myself to pay more attention, which should mean more money we keep in our pocket.
Another key area where I was sloppy was my overall bookkeeping. I have an awesome budget binder and need to do better keeping up with recording all of our expenses. What brought this front and center was a conversation I had with a good friend. This friend is someone who I have been trying to get on board with the whole “get out of debt” thing. She frequently tells me that she hates anything to do with numbers or tracking, but “is working on it.”
Interestingly, back in April, I asked her where she stood with her credit card debt. She told me she had a balance of $7,554. I know, because at the time, I jotted it down. Go figure. I can track someone else’s numbers but suck at tracking some of my own!
So, yesterday I asked her how she was doing with that. After a bit of fumbling for her last bill, she said her balance was $7,438. She then said that while she still uses this credit card, she always pays off what she spends plus extra to get the balance down. Um, the math speaks otherwise. I’m still on the fence whether or not to clue her in, but to me, her lack of progress speaks volumes about what not tracking can do. It also makes me realize that I need to do better with my own tracking. Focusing on the debt is only part of the equation.
I know I am a repeat offender of not seeing this tracking goal through. Now that our debt (minus the mortgage) is behind us, I’m hoping that 2020 will be the year I’ll actually succeed! As for my friend (who, by the way, I met via a Dave Ramsey forum), I’m not quite sure what to do. She is always open to hearing me out, but getting her to do much more than that, well…that’s a problem. Perhaps that is why they say personal finance is just that…personal.
I’m hoping 2020 will be the year for us as well!!!! WE CAN DO IT!!! I think, like dieting, people have to be ready to attack their debt and no matter how much you want to help them, if they aren’t ready, it won’t happen. There is always something we can do “better” – I am going to keep better track of our grocery spending since we do a lot of little “pick ups” that I don’t count in the budget – that will be my big thing this year – saving on food.
You’ve got the right attitude and I think that is half the battle! I’m sure you are right about my friend. She has to do it when she is ready, but I sure wish she would hurry up! None of us are getting any younger and I hate to think about the financial mess she is in.
We did a great job all the way up til the end of November and then the dam burst from picking up all the things I’d been holding off on, along with refills for all the things that we needed for the dogs (mostly medications, training treats, and so on). I mean, REALLY burst. I’m trying to pick up all the pieces again before the end of the year so we can start January on track.
I did a really good job of making time to update our real estate spreadsheets in 2019 because I did so very badly in 2018, and had major regrets come tax prep time 🙂 I also did better this year with our net worth and day to day tracking but I’m not sure if I can do much better at leeping the spending in check because we didn’t buy anything FUN when our dam burst, it was all necessities. But I do think we can do better at our electricity usage, it was oddly expensive in the winter months and less so through the other seasons and I’m still working on why.
Good luck to both of us!
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Staying on track is not an easy thing to do! Seems like we improve in some areas, only to regress in others. But, I always feel there is hope. Keep plugging along the best that we can!
2020 will my MY/our year as well. I have a plan to pay off all the small debts (4848.00) in 6 months then tackle the darn motorcycle he bought.
You can do it! That isn’t a terrible amount of small debt. It will be so worth it to have it all gone. The motorcycle…treat it the way you would any debt and it will be gone before you know it.